Mostly From Scratch

Friday, January 14, 2011

Everyone can remain calm… I am here! I did not abandon this venture so quickly! I will be completely honest though, I had my doubts about how smart this would be… baking… all the time… and of course with the New Year’s resolution to lose weight… a baking blog would merely be setting up myself for failure. Well, after much thought and careful soul searching I have decided to say… you know, to hell with what people think is best for me… I am going to do what makes me happy and what I love. I love nothing more than giving someone something amazing to eat and the smile that creeps across their face as they dive in and come back for more.

My compromise… if I want to bake then I HAVE to exercise, no buts about it (although a smaller, more toned “but” would be nice… pun intended of course). So all this week I have been on the elliptical and yes my thighs and calves burn like hot pokers are stabbing them repeatedly. I am energized about this new year and all the many things that I can look forward to.

Now the burning question that is on every one’s mind… how do I get myself to work out? Well, I pulled the elliptical into the living room and watch cupcake wars, cake challenge, and my many other DVR’d foodie shows and walk until I am sweating the river of Nile down my back, breathing so hard that I can hear it over the music in my earphones, heart racing- literally screaming at me that if I go one more minute that I will have a stroke and die and then I get off, limp to the kitchen and pop 2 Aleve… exercise is fantastic, right? But, it is all forward progress and proof that if I can do the elliptical then I can become a master baker of beautiful cookies, cakes, and other delicious goodies (because obviously those two things have a great deal to do with one another!).

So, what have I been up to…? I have PERFECTED my sugar cookie recipe and have made 3 batches of the most amazing cookies- my dad and brother eat them one in both hands with their mouths full. I have started practicing my cookie decorating skills… I have decided to post a few of my favorite pictures. Let me know what you think! I know they aren’t good enough to sell right now… but would you buy cookies from me? Just curious!

And just in case anyone is dying to know why they got Monday off from work… well you can thank me (LOL)… it is my birthday!!!!!! So excited for a whole three day birthday weekend!!! Birthday present to me… COOKIES!!! I will post more pictures of my birthday cookies when they are done!! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!!

All my cookies (minus the ones that broke and just had to be eaten!!!)

My favorite cookie!!! My goal is to create a more smooth surface on my new batch!

Friday, December 31, 2010

Good morning! I have made so much progress this week (pictures to follow)! This week I have made chocolate chip cookies and chocolate chip muffins both from scratch (are you detecting a theme here?! CHOCOLATE!!!) I will have to post recipes because I can surely not take credit for these masterpieces of deliciousness. One problem though... cupcake liners are not all you need when you make giant deli style muffins... you also need non-stick cooking spray! I was literally bent over my stove scraping the side of the pan (alternating between a giant spoon and a knife- both pretty much sucked) trying to get the crazy muffins out of the cupcake pan. What I was left with was a disappointing, sad looking lump of muffin that was pretty much heaven in my mouth- thank you Nigella from Food Network- it was the first recipe I have written down while I was watching a show... I am pretty sure I missed some sort of ingredient though. But hey... it is not the looks that count... it is all about the taste!

Last night I tried my hand at homemade Chex mix... oh my goodness... that stuff is not only delicious but really addictive! Tip for you- make sure to cook the Chex mix on 250 degrees for an hour- stirring every 15 minutes. It really makes the mixed nuts toasty and everything really crisp. The recipe typically calls for microwaving the mix for 5-7 minutes... don't do it! Doing it in the oven may take longer, but you will be so happy you did. The best thing is that I have enough ingredients to make another batch once my husband demolishes this batch!

New Year's Eve... well it is a time to reflect on the past year and all the good, bad, and/or ugly things that have happened and be determined to make this next year better. This past year was insane for me. I started a new job, bought a house, got married, and adopted a kitten and a puppy! What was I thinking?! Resolution #1: No more adopting puppies... they are way too much work even though they are adorable... and 1 is more than enough!!! So what are all my resolutions you ask... well let me enlighten you...

Already written... no adopting puppies... never... ever... again. I think I can stick with this one.

Lose 15 pounds... haha... that is such a lie... never gonna happen! I just started a cooking/baking blog!! How about I resolve to gaining 5 pounds... nothing feels quite as good as success!!

Make an awesome blog that people love to read and want to emulate... I am well on the way to this one already.

Smile more... laugh more... love more! Everyone could do this!

Stop complaining so much... this will be harder to do because now I have a public forum to complain!

Live each day to the fullest and make time for romance!

Exercise... I wonder if stirring cake mixes and washing dishes counts for this?

Bake like there is no tomorrow!!

This year is going to be so much fun!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Do you ever wake up and wish you were Martha Stewart (minus the whole fraud/prison part)? I mean I would love to be able to wake up, make a homemade meal for my husband while packing him some scratch made fabulousness for lunch, feed my puppy and kitty some organic fancy food, take a bath, go to work with goodies for all my coworkers with my handmade scarf, then come home and cook, clean, and cuddle with honey. Okay, so I think that the only way that will ever happen would be if I were to go to sleep at 2 am and wake up at 4. Oh yeah and I would need a second job and would need to learn how to fold a fitted sheet- which no matter how many times I look at the directions on Martha Stewart’s website, I just cannot figure it out!

Well… since Martha Stewart, I am not, I have decided to create a blog with all my attempts to create works of art out of sugar, chocolate, and all other brands of yummy-ness!!! You see, I love to bake... and what do I love more than baking… eating sweets!! I know, terrible… blah blah blah… need to exercise… kiss my butt (yes I know, it would take you all day!). So as I try (and I really do mean try- don’t judge) to bake and have fun and decrease my level of stress, I would like to share with you (yes mom… I think it might just be you) my attempts at Martha Stewart greatness.

Yesterday was Day 1 of Martha Stewart greatness!!! Okay so I think it might have just taken 45 minutes to write the list and I was pretty much dumb enough to think that I would get everything done. I woke up at 5 am and started my list and got to work without crashing on the left over ice from the recent snow storm. I got pretty far surprisingly. Well… I did finish making a batch of scratch made sugar cookies that I rolled, cut out, and iced. I was going to go all fancy and flood the icing- yeah I was tired, I pretty much slapped some icing on and sprinkled some sprinkles and quit- not very Martha Stewart of me… I know. I took down my Christmas tree, rearranged my furniture, cleaned dog pee from my carpet (she looked right at me when she did it!), I even did some laundry. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. So by 11 pm last night I was EXHAUSTED. I collapsed and went to sleep… how does Martha Stewart survive?!?!

Day 2- I don’t like being Martha Stewart… it is hard and stupid and I am really sleepy! I woke up every hour with a dog that had diarrhea… probably the result of mixing stuff from the top of the trash can and a half a roll of toilet paper. Then diarrhea on the rug… by the door... in my living room!! Needless to say, I needed to stay home and take care of the puppy so my house would not be ruined. My puppy is Sasha and she is really sweet and cute… but good gracious she is a pain in my butt! So right now the plan is to make Chex mix, muffins, and maybe some chocolate chip cookies today- wish me luck.

So… I hope you enjoy reading my blog… all 1 of you (thanks mom!)!!!Please let me know if you are dying to try a recipe but don’t feel like actually doing the work- I will do it for you!! I will probably spend a small fortune and all my family and friends will have a couple extra pounds to show for all my wonderful baking skills and I will enjoy every minute of it!!!

Happy Baking!!!

PS. I am officially not trying to be Martha Stewart anymore… I have decided that she is either an alien or a robot and who wants to be one of those?!